Conversations with Charlie
by eb the chocolate buckaneer
Summary: A rumbling chuckle erupted from Edward’s lips.  “When you have conversations with Charlie, you don’t leave him with much to say.”  [EdwardBella Oneshot  DUH] [Slight spoilers!]


**Conversations with Charlie**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or New Moon or Eclipse... Damn it!**

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My hands were shaking. I twisted the gold band on my finger, rubbing the skin beneath it raw. Edward chuckled dryly, his arm wrapped casually around my waist. I watched with horror as Charlie's front door approached much too fast. 

"Edward," I whispered, clutching his wrist and wishing so desperately that it would hurt him. "Edward, stop. Edward, _no!_"

He laughed again, much to my discomfort, his gold irises slipping towards me. "You can't blame this on me Isabella Swan. You wanted to get it over with."

I gritted my teeth and silently cursed myself to an eternity of hell, which I then realized wasn't possible. "Can't we come back another day? I was obviously not in the right frame of mind when I decided to do this."

We had reached the porch, and Edward's hand was reaching out for the doorknob. "You were about as sane as you always are."

I shot him a pouting, accusing glance. "And what is _that _supposed to mean?"

"Whatever you interpret it to," Edward replied easily. The door was open. My head swerved violently as the harsh, fluorescent lights from inside flooded the front stoop. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, and Edward's steady gaze as he pushed on the small of my back to get me moving. He kicked the front door shut with the heel of his foot.

"Bella, is that you?" Charlie called from the living room. I heard the couch shift as he got up to greet me.

Edward pulled me swiftly to his chest, his palms locked around my shoulders, his voice a whisper in my ear. "Bella you don't have to do this. If you want…" He swallowed hard. "If you want Jacob instead of me, Bella, I just want you happy. You can give me the ring back and you can tell Charlie you hate me."

I shoved myself away from him, the shock evident on my face. His face crumpled.

"Bella?" Charlie was coming around the corner door.

I slapped Edward. "Of course I want _you_, you dope! Stop trying to be noble and self-sacrificing and just be selfish for once!" I knew my slap hadn't done anything useful, but it made me feel good.

Edward grinned crookedly, and leaned down to plant a soft kiss on my forehead.

I blushed, knowing full well that Charlie had entered the room. My heart hammered like a drum.

"Excuse me!" The previously mentioned parent blubbered helplessly. "Excuse me, I'm in the room now, _if you don't mind_!"

Edward leaned slowly away from me, his cheeks wide with confidence. I wish I felt the same way. "Good evening, Charlie!"

I rolled my eyes and instinctively shoved my ringed hand into my pocket.

"Same to you, Edward," Charlie muttered gruffly, his eyes rolling over Edward's overly enthusiastic and somewhat cocky grin. His eyes shot over to me, and I looked away quickly, afraid direct eye contact would give everything away. I twisted my ankle from side to side, and I felt Edward's grip tighten around my waist.

"Charlie," Edward began slowly, choosing his words carefully. "Would it be alright if Bella and I had… a word with you about something?"

Charlie squinted. He was suspicious. "Sure, I guess." He gestured toward our shabby kitchen table, hardly a place for such a gut wrenching conversation. "Let's sit."

Edward nodded and dragged my whole one hundred and fifteen pounds to the table. I sat down obediently.

"What is it you want to talk about?" Charlie asked as politely as he could manage. I shot him a grateful smile. At least he was trying to be nice to Edward. Although that probably wouldn't last for long.

Edward drew in a deep, extremely unnecessary breath. "Well, Charlie, Bella and I have been… serious for quite a while now."

Charlie snorted. "I'm quite aware of that," he grumbled, tapping his fingers in an erratic rhythm. I wondered absently if we were making him miss one of his important games.

"Of course," Edward replied, shooting me an accusing look. He wanted me to contribute to this overly stimulating conversation. I glared. "Well, you see, Bella and I… we… we love each other very much."

Edward glanced up to evaluate Charlie's expression, and I noticed for the first time how his fingers were thrumming wildly against my leg, and how his expression let on the tiniest hint that he was… nervous. I grinned to myself, not aware that it might be misinterpreted. The thought of Edward nervous because of my father, Charlie, was slightly hilarious.

"And, this past weekend, after… a-after we got back from hiking…"

Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"I… I asked…" Edward paused and swallowed, obviously forgetting to conceal his anxiousness. I could see, for once, _Edward_ was the one in need of help, and for once, _I _was the one who was going to give it.

"Edward and I are getting married, dad, with or without your permission!" As soon as the words were out, I felt only slightly relieved, a bit triumphant that _I_ had saved _Edward_, and mostly, utterly scared.

I saw Charlie's eyes widen in what I hoped desperately wasn't horror. I very seriously worried that I was going to give him a stroke. I decided to use his momentary silence to my advantage. "You know, dad, that even if you say no, Edward and I can go to Vegas and elope." His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull. I decided that wasn't the right way to go. "Dad, you know I love Edward more than… well, a lot. So much that it's hard to describe. And you know that Edward loves me and he'll treat me well. You don't have to worry about that! But dad, I love you too, and I want you to be there to walk me down the aisle. I want to have this human experience with you."

I hadn't realized that I'd said 'human experience' until it was too late, but Charlie seemed to have other things to worry about. I glanced up at Edward and grinned, and he smiled feebly back. I tapped his shoulder playfully.

"Alice is planning the wedding," I added, as if it would make Charlie say yes. "And she already bought me dress. She got it made just for me so she can't return it." He looked like he was having trouble breathing. "She's so excited about planning everything…" I trailed off when Edward shot me a warning look. I was overdoing it, and yet thoroughly enjoying myself.

I decided to risk Charlie's heart attack. "Look at my ring!" I shoved my hand under Charlie's piercing gaze.

He made what sounded like a choking, gurgling sound, and stumbled off his chair. "F-f-fresh air!" He tottered out the front door and clung to the threshold.

Edward shoved me lightly, raising his eyebrows. "Do you want to kill the poor man?" he whispered venomously.

"Nope. Just knock some sense into him." I twisted in my chair to see how Charlie was doing. "What do you think he'll say?"

"The way you're throwing punches he probably won't have a chance to protest until the day of." Edward laughed lightly, the anxiousness clearing off his face. He leaned back in his chair and pulled me into his lap, burying his nose into my hair. When he spoke next, his voice was muffled. "So even if he does say no, you'd still go to Vegas and elope with me?"

"I've decided that if I'm going to have you, I'm going to have you in every way possible."

He slid his lips onto my forehead, and left a trail of kisses down the side of my face. I was too dazed to realize Charlie had reentered the room, his shock turned to anger.

"You're just a bunch of stupid teens! What the hell do you know about _love_? You can't just graduate from high school and run off to get married! College, Bella! A future! You can do something with your life, you can _be _someone! You don't have to give everything to him just because you think you love him _now_!" He paused to breathe.

"Dad!" I cut in, shoving myself off of Edward's lap. "I love him now and I will _always_ love him." I raised an eyebrow. "Don't you forget that. And I'm not giving everything up. I'm not going to become some housewife overrun with kids. We're going to college-" For a little while, I reminded myself. "-and I am going to be somebody! But I'm going to be that person with Edward! Edward is so much a part of me that without him I _can't_ be somebody." I paused and took a deep breath, preparing to bring up some painful memories. I felt Edward stiffening behind me. "Remember when the Cullen's… left? Remember how much it hurt me, Charlie? Like there was a hole in me that couldn't be filled? _That's _how much I love him, and _that's _how I know I want to spend forever with him."

I collapsed back into Edward's waiting lap, pride smothering my face. I considered that one hell of a speech. Charlie was quiet for a moment, searching for words to fight back with. I knew he had considered arguing the point of Jacob, but had decided against it for reasons I didn't know. He face crumpled and he drew a blank.

"Damn it!" Charlie yelled, slamming his fist on the table. I grinned. "Damn it all! Damn you hormonal teens! Damn love!" He paused and squinted at Edward and me. "Don't think this conversation is over! It is NO WAY over!"

He turned on his heel and stomped back into the living room, falling boisterously onto his couch.

Edward chuckled and leaned in to rest his chin on my shoulder. "It's over," he whispered joyously in my ear. "Charlie knows we love each other and he can't think of a single way to stop us."

I let myself mold into Edward's hard chest, tucking my head into the nape of his neck. "Alright, now that _that's _over with, let's talk about the wedding night," I joked a little too loudly.

"There won't _BE_ a wedding night!" Charlie screamed from the other room, throwing the remote control onto the floor. "There won't be a wedding!"

"We'll see about that," I whispered, mostly to myself, but Edward grinned and kissed the corner of my mouth.

"My little Isabella Cullen," he murmured, twisting a strand of my hair with his finger. "Alice wants me to ask whether you want pink or red flowers."

"Red," I replied absently, twisting the gold band on my finger. Edward pulled me even tighter to his chest, his arms glued around my waist. I heard the sounds of Charlie cursing from the next room. "I didn't know my father had such a limited vocabulary."

A rumbling chuckle erupted from Edward's lips. "When you have conversations with Charlie, you don't leave him with much to say."

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**Sooooo, did you like it? I haven't posted a story on here in a while, and I thought I should to let anyone who cares know that I am still alive. Plus I just finished the masterpiece that is Eclipse, and I couldn't resist writing how I thought the whole "telling Charlie" thing would go. Of course we all know that Stephenie Meyer could write this much better than I ever could, but I thought I'd have my say nonetheless. During the whole book, whenever I'd take a break, I'd always think, "I wonder if I'll ever find _my _Edward." Somehow I'll doubt I'll ever find a _real _man who is sufficiently perfect as Edward... but a girl can dream, right? Well, anyways, I hoped you like this slightly strange and obnioxious story of mine. I felt like Charlie was little bit out of character with all his cussing, but in my mind, I knew that if Charlie got really mad, he would belt it out. Oh, and sorry if I made an grammatical errors. I probably missed something... **

**Review?  
eb.**


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